Dielectrically impeded discharge lamps are known per se and in the meantime have been extensively documented in the prior art. They are characterized by the fact that at least part of the discharge electrodes is isolated from a discharge medium in the discharge space of the lamp by a dielectric; in the unipolar case, this is the anodes and, in the bipolar case, this is consequently all of the discharge electrodes.
Dielectrically impeded discharge lamps have excellent switching strength owing to their long life and various application possibilities which are already successful and are very promising for the future owing to the degrees of geometric freedom in the design of the discharge vessel. Above all in connection with a pulsed mode of operation, which is documented in the prior art, for such dielectrically impeded discharge lamps, extremely good efficiency values can also be achieved.
Application areas which are of importance today are office automation, in particular linear lamps for scanners, fax machines and similar appliances, and large-area flat lamps, so-called flat radiators, for backlighting monitors and other graphical displays. However, the invention is not restricted to these application areas. Rather, there are other application sectors, for example in UV treatment in trade and industry, in general lighting, in luminaire design etc. Other application possibilities may be developed in the future.
The discharge electrodes of a dielectrically impeded discharge lamp need to be electrically connected to outer lines, i.e. contact needs to be made between them. In this case, metallic conductor tracks, which are connected to the electrodes or form an extension of the electrodes, are often led up to a contact surface on which an outer incoming line, i.e. a cable, a contact pin or the like, is soldered. In the case of inner electrodes, the mentioned conductor tracks are in this case passed through a discharge vessel wall in a gas-tight manner, and the soldered contacts are performed externally.